A trolley tour of Philadelphia’s street murals

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Michael Schuman/Special Contributor

A pet mural entitled "Gimme Shelter' by David Guinn, is depicted on side of Morris Animal Refuge in Philadelphia. Since 1984 over 3,800 murals have been created on the sides of Philadelphiaaïs edifices. One can see them by foot, car or bicycle, but we opted for a guided trolley tour.

PHILADELPHIA — Where can you see artistic images of Abraham Lincoln and Eleanor Roosevelt; a summer day in Perugia, Italy; Benjamin Franklin and Frank Zappa; Julius Erving; and a depiction of industry that would make Diego Rivera proud?

The Metropolitan Museum of Art? The Chicago Art institute? The Boston Museum of Fine Arts?

None of the above. Not even the Philadelphia Museum of Art, although you’re getting close.

These are all images depicted in murals on the walls of Philadelphia buildings. Since 1984, more than 3,800 murals have been created. You can see them by foot, car or bicycle, but we opted for a guided trolley tour.

The Mural Arts Program tours take visitors on a variety of excursions highlighting outdoor art of all kinds. All represent either the buildings on which they are painted or the neighborhoods where they stand.

For example, Liberty, at 15th and Arch streets, is modeled after a sculpture at City Hall and features an 11-story figure carrying the world. On the outskirts of Chinatown, Colors of Light: Gateway to Chinatown includes a dragon, scroll and images of family.

The program started as a spinoff of the Anti-Graffiti Network begun by Mayor Wilson Goode in 1984. Artist Jane Golden, executive director of the City of Philadelphia Mural Arts Program, noticed that some graffiti artists possessed real artistic talent. She encouraged them to channel their abilities into something that would turn blight into beauty.

When several graffiti artists were asked in the 1980s where they would be in five years, nearly all gave the same answer: in jail or dead. Since then, professional artists have been contracted to paint more murals.

Evy Simon, our guide, said that while several cities have had similar murals tagged over with graffiti, the people of Philadelphia are too proud to mar theirs.

Simon also pointed out subtleties that might be missed without a guide. On the outer wall of chef Marc Vetri’s restaurant, Vetri, is A Taste of Summer, combining the landscapes of Perugia and Lancaster County, Pa.

Most murals have a social message: Women of Progress includes depictions of numerous women, from Ann Preston, one of the country’s first woman doctors, to Eleanor Roosevelt. A People’s Progression Toward Equality boasts a standing Abraham Lincoln, with images of slavery and segregation at the 16th president’s feet. Surrounding Lincoln’s head are people climbing ladders into the open air of equality.

Perhaps the most significant mural of the group is Common Threads, at the corner of Broad and Spring Garden streets. Painted in 1998, it blends two disparate cultures to show that when it comes down to it, people are people.

Artist Meg Saligman said that a trip to two local high schools introduced her to students whose hairstyles and casual poses mirrored the positions of antique figurines her grandmother owned. A Philly resident, Saligman thought that if these two generations from different times and places had similarities on the outside, maybe they have other common threads as well.

Because of its location at a mass transit stop and its eight-story height, Common Threads has become one of Mural Arts’ most visible artworks.

Oh, and keep your eyes on the city’s trash compactors and recycling trucks. Many have been beautified as well, with custom-designed vinyl wraps.

Michael Schuman is a freelance writer in Keene, N.H.

When you go

The Mural Arts Program offers tours by foot, by trolley and by bicycle, as well as a brochure for a self-guided tour. The basic trolley tour is $30 for adults. Reservations can be booked online or bought the day of the tour at the Mural Arts box office at the Gallery at Market East, 9th and Market streets, level 2. muralarts.org; 215-925-3633.

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